Saturday 9 April 2011

Day 32: Love your neighbour

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Verse: Mark 12: 30-31
'And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Thought
It is quite a call this.  To love God with every fibre of your being.  When you fall in love with a person, they totally engulf your life.  You think of them all the time and glow with the thought of them.  When I first became a Christian, that was true of my faith too.  But as the years pass in your marriage, frequently thoughts of your spouse are edged with "I hope he remembered....", "Why didn't he...." and it is easy to forget that early 'buzz' of love with the mundane everyday issues of life.  I think this happens with Christianity too.  We forget that early buzz and settle into routine.  But God is asking us to love Him with every fibre of our being, all the time.  
I live in a cul-de-sac of 7 houses and am lucky to really like all of my neighbours.  But I am a bit of a snob!  Move me a mile down the road and plonk me in the middle of the council estate and I may be less happy.  But it is those neighbours Jesus is talking about.  The people you don't really like and tend to avoid. The ones you don't really mix with and sometimes tend to avoid.   God is telling you to love them as yourself.  This means ensuring they are safe, warm, fed and generally OK. Every one wants to feel loved, to feel accepted and to feel they are part of a greater community, and it is our job to ensure they do.


Prayer
Farther God, help me to love you with every fibre of my being.  To wake in the morning excited about what the day will bring.  Let me share Your love with those around me, that I may be a good 'neighbour' and let others really feel Your warmth and love.

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